The Problem

Lack of insight plagues the mental health care field for a variety of reasons. Therapists must depend on patients to provide them with enough information to accurately treat and heal their disorders and syndromes unlike an injury or disease which can have obvious observable symptoms. Patients raised in dysfunctional families may not even be aware of their unhealthy behaviors.

Lack of good data is one of the factors that those in the mental health care world consider as an inequality between mental health and illness. The debate is framed along the lines: do people struggle with substance abuse and lack of self-control because of underlying factors such as environment or negative emotional states or does the substance abuse cause the negative emotions and put people into unhealthy environments.